Sex Roles, Vol. 53, Nos. 5/6, September 2005 ( C  2005) DOI: 10.1007/s11199-005-6760-5 Cross-Cultural Differences in Sexual Advertising Content in a Transnational Women’s Magazine 1 Michelle R. Nelson 2,4 and Hye-Jin Paek 3 Critics worldwide denounce objectification in advertising and blame media imperialism for disseminating overt, Westernized sexuality. Yet, advertising practitioners believe that sex sells and images can overcome cultural barriers. Few researchers have explored sexuality in advertising across multiple countries or the factors that may contribute to content. We exam- ined the degrees of sexuality in advertising within Cosmopolitan magazine across seven coun- tries (Brazil, China, France, India, South Korea, Thailand, the United States). Even within a transnational Western magazine, degrees of sexuality differ. Presence of Western models, sexual freedom values, and a less authoritarian political culture contribute to greater sexual- ity in magazine advertising. By considering multiple factors in advertisements within a global magazine, we go beyond description to illuminate differences in the portrayal of women and sexuality cross-culturally. KEY WORDS: international advertising; gender; nudity; global media; cross-cultural. Sex sells. Or so it would seem. Despite women’s gains in the real world, the media world still de- picts women as sex objects even in media targeted to women. Numerous studies within recent years have actually shown an increase in sexism, sexu- ality, and objectification in contemporary advertis- ing (e.g., Frith, Cheng, & Shaw, 2004, 2005; Ganahl, Prinsen, & Netzley, 2003; Reichert & Carpenter, 2004; Reichert & Lambiase, 2003). Such content oc- curs regardless of negative consumer attitudes to- ward sexual advertising (e.g., LaTour & Henthorne, 1993), lower consumer recall and negative brand atti- tudes for such appeals (e.g., LaTour, 1990), and inter- national advertising executives’ concern about such matters (Boddewyn, 1989). Within the last decade, 1 Both authors contributed equally to the paper. 2 School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin. 3 Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, Univer- sity of Georgia, Athens. 4 To whom correspondence should be addressed at School of Jour- nalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin— Madison, 5148 Vilas Hall, Madison, Wisconsin 53706; e-mail: mrnelson@wisc.edu. the International Chamber of Commerce (1997) has published recommended guidelines for advertising portrayals that speak directly to visual represen- tations of prevailing standards of decency and so- cial responsibility. In addition, many self-regulatory agencies around the world have revamped their own rules for regulation of “soft issues” such as represen- tations in advertising (Galloni, 2001; Mueller, 2004). Advertising guidelines and self-regulations dic- tate what is sexy, sexist, or indecent. For example, guidelines typically suggest the following criteria are inappropriate representations according to measures of taste and decency: (1) if the advertisement does not conform to standards of good taste and mod- esty; (2) if the advertisement uses sexual imagery or suggestiveness; (3) if the advertisement objectifies women or men by presenting them as decorative or attention-getting objects with little or no relevance to the product advertised; and (4) if the advertisement employs gender-role stereotypes or suggests violence (Boddewyn, 1991). These guidelines are merely sug- gested. In most countries, such guidelines do not de- termine which advertisements are actually published. Further, different standards of taste, modesty, and 371 0360-0025/05/0900-0371/0 C  2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.